


College/Human/Modern AU

by the_fates_of_fiction



Category: Life of the Party D&D (Web Series)
Genre: Boblem is still babey that will never change, Drinking, Elyse is so gay it hurts, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, I Am Sorry, I don't know how to tag this shit, I dont know what college is like i am flying blind here, I'm really bad at titles, Like, M/M, Mild Language, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Tags May Change, Why Did I Write This?, everyone tbh - Freeform, human/college/modern au thing, i love these idiots and I wanted to write a college fic, idk man it was 3am when i started this i don't know what was going through my head, lots and lots of talking, other characters might get introduced as time goes on????, so much f-ing talking, someone help her she doesn't know what shes doing, switching POVs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:41:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_fates_of_fiction/pseuds/the_fates_of_fiction
Summary: Vanden Du Argentfort, a college student currently studying for a history major and son of a very powerful politician, finds himself having to share an apartment with five very unique individuals. He thinks to himself about what he must have done in a past life to deserve something like this, but after some time he starts to realise, this might not be so bad.What odd and crazy things will this group of very different people get into?Only time will tell...
Relationships: Astra/Aerenthias Van Wymarck, Cassian/Renard (Life of the Party), Cassian/Vanden (Life of the Party), Elyse/Boske, Elyse/Boske/Phaesta, Elyse/Phaesta, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic with these guys so, plz be nice i am but a simple fangirl who spent way too many sleepless nights working on just one of these chapters  
> Big thank you to all of NyxRising Industries for creating such an amazing series and set of characters! I would live for all of them and I am so sorry that I have probably done none of them justice  
> But either way, I hope that anyone that reads this will enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated  
> and I am sorry if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, I've been staring at this for days now and my brain has turned to mush, but either way, I hope you like this!  
> Enjoy~!

If you had asked Vanden what his weekend plans had been a few days ago, he would have given you a simple answer. He would either be studying, working, or reading one of his many books, most likely for the tenth time. What he would never have expected his answer to be was standing outside of a fairly cheap apartment, luggage in hand, about to meet the people that he would be living with for the foreseeable future.  
It wasn’t like he was against it, it wasn’t what he had imagined his living situation would be, but he was fine with it. Of course, he felt weird about having to live with a bunch of strangers, having to get used to being in such close quarters with other people that weren’t his family, old friends, or the rare business partners that would often come by the house to talk with his parents. But they didn’t really count all that much, since all they did was swing by, have a meeting with his parents then if they got what they wanted (or even if they didn’t) they’d leave, either talking about having a big plan in the making or about how much his parents were going to regret this.

His mind was wandering, he could feel it, going back to everything that led up to this moment, all his decisions flashing before his eyes but still couldn’t help but wonder how in the hell did he end up agreeing to do this. He glanced down at the single key in his hand and let out a sigh, it was fairly early, he liked to not be late if he could avoid it, so he expected that he would be one if not the first of his five new roommates.  
Five seemed a bit excessive, but if he wanted to try and not let anyone onto him or who he was he had to be as inconspicuous as possible, which meant having to think like a broke young adult and having to share a dorm with a whole bunch of people. He went over what he was going to say in his head without even realising it, he wasn’t going to use his real name. No, not after everything that’s been going on, he couldn’t risk it. But what name would he go by then? He racked his brain, suddenly not being able to think of a single name. He sighed softly, committing himself to the fact that he would have to just make one up on the spot and hope that it would work.

He took a step towards the plain white door with the numbers 8119 nailed into it, heaving his bag higher up his shoulder, inserting the key and turning, a subtle click going off. He opened the door and took a cautious step inside.  
He was standing in a corridor, a simple coat rack and shelf with a tray for keys on his left and a mirror on his right. As he walked inside, closing the door quietly behind him did he hear the sounds of shuffling around and idle chatter. _I’m not first it seems_ , he thought to himself as he put his keys into the tray that already had two matching keys in it. He continued down the corridor where he noticed the large arch on his left which led into what he assumed was the kitchen, and into a large open room where he saw two of the five of his new roommates, neither of them had seemed to notice him.

The room was practically bare except for the large dining table on the left, a large dark blue, almost dusty blue couch sat in front of a medium-sized tv and a painting or two.  
The first thing that he noticed about both of them was their brightly coloured hair. There were a man and a woman, both seeming to already be getting along and chatting. The woman was sitting on one of the dining room chairs, her legs crossed and toned arm casually resting on the back of it. She had golden armbands on both of her arms from what he could tell and a necklace with a small pendant on it. She had long, bright electric blue hair, the left side was shaved, making it very clear to see her golden earrings and the scar, running down from her eyebrow to her cheek.  
She had dark skin, a great contrast to her hair, and was wearing a sleeveless hoodie and ripped dark blue jeans that looked less like they were fashionably ripped and more like a bear had attacked them, a giant hole on the left knee the biggest out of all the rips.

The other, male, had some of the longest hair Vanden had ever seen. It was partially done up into a ponytail, but even then it reached all the way down his back, and what stood out even more than that was the colour of it, a rich almost turquoise colour.  
He couldn’t make out too many more details about him from where he was standing, but he did notice that he had a music case slung over his shoulder and had the most sun-kissed skin. It was obvious that he probably spent quite a lot of time outside. The two seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, the turquoise haired one talking very animatedly, but not aggressively so and the bright blue hair girl nodding her head and smiling along, enjoying herself.  
After a few moments of Vanden looking around and trying to not stare flabbergasted at the slightly odd-looking pair for too long did he clear his throat. The talking quickly stopped as two pairs of eyes quickly turned to him.

The man quickly stood up to his full height which was very tall indeed, a smile on his face and by the gods was it a pretty face. Vanden could admit when someone was attractive and by the Gods he was, and not only that but his eyes were a rich hazel, almost golden colour that seemed to shine in the light.  
He quickly offered a hand out to Vanden as he spoke, “Hello there! My name is Astra, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He had an Irish accent and a voice that would make anyone else melt and talk to him about all their worries and fears.  
Vanden quickly glanced down at Astra’s outstretched hand, before looking back up at him. He was wearing a flowy white button-up shirt, the first few buttons left open to reveal some of Astra’s chest and a simple dark coloured vest matched with black skinny jeans.  
“Pleasure to meet you too Astra,” he said, nodding his head slightly as he took Astra’s bare hand into his gloved one, giving him a quick, weak smile in return.

“My name’s Renard, and if you don’t mind me asking, what would your name be?” He looked over at the woman, still sitting in the chair. She smirked slightly, her blue eyes twinkling and crossed her muscular arms over her chest, “The name’s Elyse, great to meet you Renard, really digging the giant black trench coat.” She waved her hand vaguely in Vanden’s direction, her eyes going up and down him, he would think that she was sizing him up for a fight if it weren’t for how relaxed she was. Vanden quickly glanced down at himself, his long trench coat covering his frame almost completely. It was very safe to say that he was the most covered out of all the people in the room at that moment, he usually was anyway.  
He couldn’t help but raise his eyebrow slightly at Elyse which she responded to with a smile. She uncrossed her arms, going back to her previous position, “You trying to smuggle something?” She asked. Vanden furrowed his brows slightly, putting a hand into his pocket and pulling his red scarf further up his neck, “It’s cold.” He answered simply, trying to keep the glare that wanted to come out of his face. Elyse nodded, muttering a quiet ‘That’s fair.’

“Well,” Astra began, causing Vanden to return his attention to the taller man. “If you wanted to go pick a room, neither of us-” He gestured to himself and Elyse, “have picked a room yet. Wanted to wait and make sure that everyone got what they wanted and Elyse doesn’t seem to care.” Elyse gently shook her head, agreeing with Astra nonverbally. Vanden thought for a moment, glancing over Astra’s shoulder to the best of his abilities, to the other corridor that seemed to be where all the bedrooms were. He looked back up to Astra as he spoke, “I don’t really mind either, just as long as I can have a room to myself I’ll be okay.”  
“Oh, of course, yeah, I think there are enough rooms for six, maybe seven people?” He put a hand nervously on the back of his head as he thought.  
“It's a pretty good deal, if I do say so myself.” Elyse said, “Pretty good for a cheap little apartment.” Both Vanden and Astra nodded at that, Vanden had found it quite cheap, much cheaper than other places that he had stayed at.  
“I wouldn’t really know.” Said Astra, glancing around to look at the large, open room. “Never lived in something like this before.”  
“Oh yeah!” Exclaimed Elyse, “You grew up in the woods didn’t you?”

Astra smiled softly, looking away for a moment, a slight flush on his tanned cheeks, “I wouldn’t really say it like that exactly, but yeah.” That Vanden found a little intriguing, he had met some unique people in his life but they usually weren’t from the… woods?  
“Where are you from, Astra?” He asked, his brow furrowed slightly. “If you don’t mind me asking.” He quickly added. Astra’s eyes quickly went back to Vanden, it didn’t seem like his question had bothered him as he smiled, “Outside of Riven.”  
“I’ve been up there before, it's a lovely place.” Astra smiled brighter at that, but he had an almost wistful look in his eyes, his fingers playing with the hem of his shirt. “Yeah, yeah it is.” They all stayed there for a few moments in, if not slightly awkward, silence when there was the sound of jangling keys in the front door. All eyes quickly went to the hallway, Vanden taking a few steps away from the entrance.

The moment that the man had come into view Vanden already wasn’t looking forward to this. He wouldn’t say that he was quick to judge people, he couldn’t really talk since he stood out slightly at most places, but just everything about this man screamed ‘ego.’  
He had dark skin adorned with golden markings, his dark black hair slicked back and out of his face. He was wearing a dark blue button-up shirt and high waisted black dress pants and some simple black boots. 

He had similar coloured eyes to Astra, but his didn’t seem to have the same warmth and kindness in them. His eyes quickly scanned the trio up and down, his eyebrow raising slightly when he saw Astra and Elyse’s brightly coloured hair. He held himself like no matter where he went, he was the centre of attention and was above everybody else, even his luggage seemed to scream ‘better than you’ if that was even possible.  
“Pleasure to meet the three of you,” he said, his voice not at all conveying that it was indeed a pleasure. “My name is Cassian Thiarin.” He extended his hand out, not really towards anyone, but just there. Astra practically bounded over, taking his hand and gently shaking it, “Astra, it's great to meet you.” He said, a welcoming smile on his face. Cassian nodded at him, a half-smile spreading onto his lips, “That’s a lovely name, Astra.”  
Astra blushed slightly at the compliment, stuttering slightly as he spoke, “Th-thank you. Cassian’s a lovely name too.”

“Oh, why thank you Astra, I think I use it well. Might I just quickly say that your hair is impeccable, I love all the little braids in it. The colour is an interesting choice as well, don’t see many people with turquoise hair.” Astra flushed deeper, tucking a nonexistent piece of hair behind his ear. “Thank you, it’s from many years of practice and spending a lot of time on it.” Cassian nodded along, smiling softly when he spoke, “It shows. It is quite well done.”  
Elyse then stood up from her seat, walking over to the two, “I’d hate to interrupt you two viscously flirting-”  
“Elyse!”  
“-But I must say, I love your henna. Did you do it yourself?” Elyse continued, ignoring the now blushing mess that was Astra, his face hidden behind his hands. Cassian had a small smirk on his face, quickly glancing at Astra before looking to Elyse, “Why yes I did, I take great pride in it. Did you do _that_ yourself or is it natural?” He looked to her hair, his eyes twinkling with something that could only be described as mischievousness. Elyse gave him the same look with a smirk, “And what if I said it was natural?”  
“I would want to talk with your parents and ask them what genetics ended up giving their daughter bright blue hair.” He deadpanned, never breaking eye contact. Elyse barked out a laugh, almost doubling over and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. Cassian seemed pleased with himself, if not a little taken aback by how loud Elyse was. After a few moments, she had stopped laughing enough to form actual words, “I like you Cassian, you’re fun.” He smiled, “I like you too. Elyse, was it?”

“Guilty as charged.” She said with a small curtsy and a smirk. “I think we’re going to get along great,” Cassian said. He glanced around and his eyes fell onto Vanden, their gazes locking for a second before he spoke again, “And what would your name be if you wouldn’t mind?” He asked, a hand on his hip and an eyebrow raised slightly, Vanden’s face dropped but he hoped it didn’t show too much.  
“Renard, nice to meet you.” He said, pulling his bag further up his shoulder. Cassian smiled, “Lovely name. Suits you.” It sounded like it pained him slightly to say that, but he was trying to put on a good front. Vanden just grunted in response, looking down the corridor to his left where all the bedrooms were. _It does?_ He thought, shaking his head gently, choosing to not mull over it for too long.  
“You can go pick a room if you want?” Astra suddenly said, his cheeks still a little flushed. Cassian turned his attention back to him, raising an eyebrow. “None of us have picked any,” Elyse added. “If I’m being honest I don’t really care, neither does Hot Topic over there.” Vanden gave Elyse a pointed look at that which she ignored. Cassian glanced down the corridor, “If no one minds I would like a big one.” He said, waving a hand around casually as he talked, “I need a lot of space for fabrics and such things.”

“Fabrics?” Elyse and Astra said in unison.

Cassian squinted his eyes slightly, crossing an arm over his chest, choosing to not point out the creepiness of them speaking in unison, “Yes. I like to make clothes and jewellery and other things of that sort. I’m majoring in fashion and I like to have room when I work?” He said, sounding a little confused on why he had to explain this.  
“Well,” Astra began, “from what I saw, which wasn’t a lot, they all seem to be the same size.” He explained. Cassian nodded, a hand going under his chin, “Well then I don’t really care. If there is one with a window I might take that one? I can work with anything that gets given to me.”  
“It doesn’t seem like _any_ of us really care,” Vanden suddenly said after being silent for so long. Three pairs of eyes all turned to look at him, prompting him to continue. “If no one has any specific needs or wants I think we should all claim a room and get comfortable.” He explained, shifting a little on the spot. “I don’t think that we all want to just stay in the main room talking all-day.”

“I agree with Renard.” Cassian nodded, locking eyes with the redhead, “Might as well get settled in.” He continued, turning his gaze to address the whole group, “I have a few projects that I need to continue working on as soon as possible.”  
“That actually sounds like a good idea,” Astra admitted. “How many rooms were there again?” Asked Elyse, a look of slight confusion on her face. “I think there were six bedrooms and one master bathroom that way?” Astra said, sounding like he was having some trouble remembering. Vanden walked a little way down the corridor, leaning a bit to see how many rooms there were. “Well, there are seven doors.” He said with a small shrug, looking over his shoulder back at the group, “Seems to fit the description, one of them should be the bathroom then.”  
“I call whichever one is closest to the bathroom!” Called Cassian as he sauntered down the corridor, his bags in hand. Vanden shuffled out of his way as he walked past, squinting his eyes at the back of the other man’s head before he disappeared from few, closing the door behind him.

“I’m not even gonna ask,” mumbled Elyse after a few moments, putting her hands up and turning on one foot to the table where there were a few boxes and a large bag. She picked up one of the boxes and before she could even reach for the second Astra was by her side, insisting that he help her. Vanden let them do that, needing to unpack and move things himself. He walked over to the closest room to him and subconsciously claimed it as his own.  
He opened the door and saw that it was already partially furnished with just the bare bones of a bed and a single wooden bookshelf.  
He dumped his things onto the bed and floor and finally fully processed everything that just happened while he slowly unpacked his things.  
Renard...  
That’s who he had to be now, that’s the name that he had picked and what these people were going to know him as. He didn’t have to fully create a new persona, no, he just had to go under a different name for now.  
_Renard, Renard, Renard..._  
He said the word in his head over and over again, sometimes mumbling it quietly to himself until it felt natural to hear it. He looked down at himself, he was no longer Vanden Du Argentfort.  
He was Renard de la Mer, a history major and just another face in the crowd. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door opening loudly and some very energetic talking. He peeked outside his door, looking down the corridor to see what had caused the noises. One of the new roommates perhaps?  
Soon enough not one, but two figures walked into view. One was very tall and the other was very short, the taller of the two was the one doing all the talking, his tanned arms flailing about as he spoke.  
Two new roommates, it would seem.

“It's all about the arms, y’know!” The taller one exclaimed, a bright smile that could rival the sun itself spread across his freckled face. He had long dark and unruly hair that reached down to his shoulders, he was wearing a large white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbow under long blue overalls, one of the straps unbuckled. He had on simple sandals that looked like they had years of wear and tear on them. The smaller of the two had long white hair and pale skin. She was wearing a white turtleneck under a long, dark purple coat and a long black skirt that almost reached down to the floor and slightly worn down white boots. She was holding a small box in her arms and a bag was slung over her shoulder, resting on her hip. She was smiling very softly as she nodded along in the conversation. “You need to teach me how to do that sometime,” she said, her voice quiet and soft. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach ya! It’s all about how you move the arms.” He said, crouching down slightly as he flailed his arms, not really caring about how ridiculous he looked. The smaller one let out a soft laugh, barely even audibly. Vanden then watched as Astra seemed to pop out of nowhere, “hello!” He exclaimed, “my name’s Astra.” He offered his hand out, the taller one taking it immediately, shaking it and smiling brightly, “Boblem, it's great to meet you!”

“Sariel.” The smaller one answered simply, “Nice to meet you.”  
Astra smiled down at Sariel, “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. There are two free rooms from you to choose from, do you need any help with unpacking?” He asked, looking down at the large box in Sariels very small arms. “I’m okay, I’ve got it.” She answered, giving him a small smile. He nodded, “If you’re sure.”  
“Yeah, sorry about being so late,” Boblem said, his cheeks flushing slightly, a hand rubbing awkwardly at the back of his head. “I was a little lost until Sariel helped me.”  
“He was knocking on random peoples’ doors and didn’t think to check the numbers on his key.” She explained, lightly teasing him which caused him to flush deeper. “I’ve never had to check something like that before.” He mumbled, a flustered smile on his face. “Met some lovely people though, one of them even gave me some cookies. I was confused as to why, but I felt bad saying no.” Sariel gently papped him on the arm, her hand looking so small, then began to walk towards the bedrooms, waving as she walked past Vanden. “Hi,” he said, waving back at her, “my name’s Renard. Sariel was it?”  
She nodded weakly, “Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Renard.”  
“And you too.” He said, giving her a small smile that she returned quickly. “I think that room over there is empty,” he said, gesturing to the room two doors down from his on the opposite wall. Sariel nodded, “Thank you.” She muttered.  
“Not a problem.” He gave her a small nod which she returned to with a very soft and small smile. She then walked off and out of view to get herself settled in, the sounds of conversation still going on to Vanden’s right.

Astra chuckled softly, “No need to be sorry, there was no rush. If I’m being honest, I got a little lost too, took me a while to actually find the right apartment.” He admitted, his shoulders shrugging slightly. “I’m not used to big cities like this.”  
“Neither am I!” Boblem exclaimed causing Astra to gasp softly, “New to city buddies!” He exclaimed, smiling brightly. Boblem laughed sweetly, “yeah! We can get lost together.” Astra let out a laugh, a hand going to his mouth as he doubled over slightly.  
“There’s a lot of laughing happening out here, did I clown break it?” Elyse was walking towards the two laughing men, an intrigued smile on her face, a light blue denim jacket now over the red cropped hoodie.  
Vanden snorted softly, “The last two roommates arrived and Astra has already begun getting along with one of them.” He explained, a small smile on his face. Elyse nodded, letting out a little sound of understanding, “That’s nice. I think it’d be bad if someone hated their new roommate after knowing them for like 15 seconds.” She gave Vanden a pointed look which he returned with a slightly offended and confused one, choosing to ignore whatever she was trying to insinuate. “Yeah,” he agreed, nodding his head as he continued to look at her in confusion.  
“Well, might as well introduce ourselves, I think Cassian has walled himself into his room already.”

“I have not, excuse you.” Both Elyse and Vanden jumped slightly at the sudden familiar voice. “Well, speak of the devil,” Vanden muttered, a hand over his chest as he leaned on the doorframe. “How did you move so quietly?” Elyse questioned, “I didn’t even hear your door open.” Cassian squinted and raised an eyebrow, “I’ve gotten used to moving around as quietly as possible.”  
“That’s totally not creepy at all, no, not in the slightest,” Vanden muttered, earning himself a small sly smirk from Cassian.  
“Oh I’m sorry,” he said, placing a hand on his chest. “Did I scare you? I’m so sorry if I did.” He teased, talking like he was speaking to a child. Vanden glared at him, “You didn’t scare me.” He said simply, standing up straight again.  
“Ya’ sure?” Elyse said, a cheeky smile on her lips, “Seems to me you got a little scared there.” Vanden felt as his face grew warm, “You jumped too.” He said, looking away from both of them, fed up and wanting to leave this conversation.  
“Oh, stop teasing him, Elyse.” Cassian said, “it wasn’t his fault that I happen to be good at sneaking around.”  
“Somehow I feel like you aren’t really defending me,” Vanden deadpanned. All Cassian did in lieu of an answer was smile at him, it not reaching his eyes as he then walked over to the two other men. Elyse looked over to Vanden, giving him a little smirk before following after Cassian.  
After a few moments, he let out a sigh and quickly followed behind her.

“Hello there,” Cassian said, cutting into whatever conversation that Astra and Boblem were having, a small smile on his face. Boblem looked over to him and smiled, “Howdy, I’m Boblem!” He offered out his hand which Cassian took, shaking it, “Cassian, a pleasure.”  
“I’m Elyse,” she quickly butted in, offering her hand out, “nice to meet you.”  
Boblem looked a little shocked for a second, taking Elyse’s hand, “Oh! Hello, nice to meet you, I’m Boblem.”  
“I heard.” She nodded gently, giving him a smile. Boblem flushed a little, chuckling softly, “Oh yeah, you would, wouldn’t you?” He then noticed Vanden and seemed to almost stumble back slightly, “So many people,” he muttered to himself, before reaching out a hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you.” Vanden looked down at his hand, before taking it and giving it a little quick shake, “And you too, my name’s Renard.”  
“Renard,” Boblem repeated, “Lovely name.”

“Thanks,” he replied a little awkwardly. “I’m gonna be great at handshakes, I’m doing so many,” Boblem said, looking down at his hand.  
A quiet voice came from the corridor, “I don’t think you can get ‘great’ at handshakes.” Sariel was walking over to the group, looking up at Cassian and Elyse. “I’m Sariel.” She said simply.  
Both Cassian and Elyse introduced themselves, giving her a smile.  
“I’m not so sure about that,” Astra said. “I would think that after a while and if you do it enough you’d get good at them.”  
“But that would mean that you were bad at them,” Elyse pointed out. “What even counts as a bad handshake?” Vanden thought out loud, furrowing his brows.  
“Too aggressive, sweaty palms,” Cassian began, continuing to list all the ways that a handshake could be considered bad.

Elyse was barely able to hold her laughter in, a hand covering her mouth and the other on her stomach, Sariel was looking at Cassian with a look that could only be described as confusion mixed with playful disappointment and Boblem and Astra were adding on anything they could think of that would make a handshake bad.  
“How did we even get onto this topic?” Vanden finally said, looking up to the ceiling like he was trying to ask some primordial being for guidance, a small smile on his face.  
“I have no fucking clue but it sure is a _great_ conversation starter,” strained Elyse, trying to not double over in laughter.  
“I think we’re all going to get along great.” Said Astra, smiling at this strange little group of people. “I think that too, you all seem really cool.” Boblem said, looking at each of them, “I haven’t met many cool people before, so this is exciting!”  
Cassian looked at Boblem and Astra in confusion, blinking a few times, opening and closing his mouth like he was going to say something but choosing not to. “I know that we’ve only known each other for like, less than thirty minutes,” Elyse began, having composed herself enough that she wasn’t about to faint any second, a smile on her face. “But can I just say that I agree with Astra and Boblem, I think we’re gonna have some fun antics take place.”  
Cassian scoffed lightly, crossing his arms, “Not the words that I would use, but sure, that works.” Vanden huffed out a small laugh, stuffing his hands into his pockets. _What have I gotten myself into_? He thought.  
Sariel suddenly spoke up, her hands intertwined in front of her casually, “does anyone know what time it is?” Cassian glanced down at his watch, his eyebrows creasing slightly, “it is currently 12:42-”

“ _Shiiiiitttt!_ ” Elyse dragged, her eyes suddenly wide as the realization of something hitting her. She then suddenly booked it down to her room, almost slipping as she ran into the room, appearing a few seconds later with a bag slung over her shoulder and her hand fiddling with something in her pocket as she made a beeline for the front door. “Wh-what, Elyse are you okay?” Astra asked, looking at her as she ran past the group, everyone following her with their eyes in mixes of confusion and shock at the sudden outburst.  
“I have a shift at my job and I only have five minutes to get there before I become a person who died under mysterious circumstances!” She strained, not even taking a breath as she fumbled with the keys before finding her own and unlocking the door, “Don’t wait up for me! I’ll be back sometime around seven, lovely meeting you all!” She called before running out the door, slamming it closed behind her.  
“Bye then,” muttered Boblem, weakly waving a hand at where Elyse was. Everything was silent for a few moments, the only sounds being the muffled tweeting of birds outside and wind blowing.

After a few moments, Cassian spoke up, his brows still furrowed, “I have a few projects that I should keep working on with what, little time I have.” He pivoted and began walking away, calling over his shoulder, “If anyone needs me, I will be in my room. No-one need me.” And with that as his final words, he closed the door behind him.  
“I need to go down to the library,” Vanden said, looking back to address the other three. “I have some work that I need to start on for Monday.”  
Boblem looked a little confused at that, his head tilting slightly to the side, “But it's Saturday?”  
“And?” Both Vanden and Sariel deadpanned then looked to each other and nodded, giving the other a small smile of understanding.  
Astra and Boblem both looked to each other in confusion, but both seemed to decide that they didn’t want to know and push it any further.  
“Would you mind if I came with you?” Sariel asked, “I have a few books that I need to find.” “Yeah, sure.” Vanden answered with a small nod, “I just need to go get my laptop then we can go?” Sariel gave him a nod, “I’ll wait by the door.” He gave her a small thumbs up and began to walk to his room, quickly grabbing his laptop and putting it into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.  
“Well,” Astra began, almost like he was thinking out loud. “I think I saw a park on my way here, it looked really beautiful, perfect place to do some drawing-”  
“You draw?” Boblem gasped, his eyes lighting up. Astra flushed a little, a smile on his face, “yeah I do! I find it really relaxing.”  
“That's so cool, I can’t really draw all that well.” Boblem chuckled, his freckled cheeks going slightly pink. “Oh, I’m sure that's not true. Everyone can draw, no one is any better than another.” Boblem smiled, “that's really sweet of you, Astra. But I’m still sure that your drawings would be better than mine, could you maybe show me some?"  
"Uh, yeah sure! I've got a few drawings that I think you might like, do you like flowers?" He asked, Boblem simply smiling at him, "I grew up on a farm, I love all of nature, it's like a home away from home for me." Astra smiled warmly at him, a spark in his eyes, "I feel the same way. Would you like to go look at that park with me?"  
"I would love that," Boblem said, he seemed to almost be glowing at the thought of going outside.  
And so, with everyone going their separate ways, Vanden and Sariel going to the library, Boblem and Astra to relax in the park, Cassian working on some secret project and Elyse doing her best to keep her head firmly attached to her shoulders, the first day of a brand new life came to a close. What strange adventures are these six unique people going to get into?  
As Vanden walked, he couldn’t help but think of all the events that had led up to this.

What had he gotten himself into?


	2. A Morning Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, heyo!  
> Sorry that this took so long, writers block and lack of motivation have been whooping my body like there's no tomorrow  
> This chapters a little shorter, can you tell when my brain started to give up?  
> There's a lot of talking in this one- much like the last one- because I don't know what I am doing half the time and need to fill up space :)  
> Anyway, I hope you still enjoy this chapter!  
> Enjoy~!

It was the next day, the sun was rising and the sound of the hustling and bustling of the city could barely be heard through the walls of the apartment.   
Vand- No, he was Renard now.    
Renard was lying in his bed, wrapped up in his many blankets like they were a makeshift cocoon. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, barely even remembering to move to his bed before promptly passing out at 2 am.   
He rolled in his bed, his brain slowly waking up. After a minute his brows furrowed as an odd scent faintly wafted into his room from behind the closed door. He blinked one eye open, only being met by darkness and the vague shapes of his partially bare room.   
He sniffed, trying to figure out whether or not he was dreaming. It smelt like…. Pancakes?   
Renard got out of bed, quickly throwing on a hoodie over what he had worn to bed, walking over to his door and peeking out of it.   
The smell was stronger now and was coming from the kitchen accompanied by very soft humming. It seemed that Renard wasn’t the only one that was intrigued by this as he noticed that a few others were poking their heads out of their rooms.   
Astra looked like he was still half asleep, the braids in his hair undone leaving long flowing strands of turquoise untamed and free.    
  
Elyse looked a little more awake, her hand rubbing at her eyes as she tried to push a stray lock of blue hair out of her face. She was wearing a plain black tank top and baggy grey sweatpants, her gold and blue necklace hanging from her neck.    
They all glanced at each other, noting that they were not alone in their confusion. Renard slowly walked out of his room and towards the main room where the kitchen was, Astra and Elyse following a few steps behind him; Astra rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he began to fully wake up.    
When Renard made it to the main room he saw…   
“Boblem?” He questioned, his voice still groggy. Boblem looked up from the pancake that he was cooking and gave the group a smile, “mornin’ ya’ll!” He exclaimed warmly with a little wave. He was wearing a bright yellow sweater and plain blue jeans, the lower half of his body blocked by the counter that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room.   
“Are-” Elyse began, blinking a few times, “are you making pancakes?”    
Boblem nodded, a bright and wide awake smile on his face, “of course. Well, not just plain pancakes, I also made some candied apples to put on top of them. If you’d like to, of course.” They were all silent for a moment, staring at Boblem with either confusion, drowsiness or a mix of the two before Astra spoke up, “that’s really sweet of you Boblem.” His voice was hoarse and soft, a small smile playing on his lips.   
  
“Yeah, it really is,” Renard said, his brows knitting together slightly.    
“Well,” Elyse shrugged. “I ain’t gonna say no to free food and it smells so good what the heck-” She practically leapt over the counter, landing on the wooden floor on the other side quite gracefully actually. Boblem chuckled softly before handing her a plate.    
Elyse was right, it did smell good, Renard could quite easily admit that. He was still a little taken aback by the fact that Boblem had made breakfast without anyone prompting him to, but he wouldn’t bring it up at that moment.    
Renard and Astra both got a plate, stacking them with as many pancakes as they both wanted, Renard covering his with the candied apples. He looked up and noticed the barely contained smirk on Elyse’s face and the slight wide-eyed look that Astra was giving him and his plate.   
He felt as his cheeks grew slightly warm, “I have a sweet tooth.” He defended, “and you said it yourself Elyse, it smells good!” Wait, why was he defending himself? He didn’t need to explain himself to them, what the heck?    
  
Elyse put her hands up in surrender, just barely keeping her laugh contained, “I didn’t say anything.” She mumbled, jumping up and taking a seat on the counter. Renard could hear the muffled giggling of Boblem and Astra, only adding to his annoyment and slight embarrassment. Renard gave her a pointed look, which she pretended not to see before he walked over and took a seat at the dining table, accompanied by a much more awake and present Astra.    
They all began to dig into the lovely breakfast that Boblem had made them as he finished washing a few dishes.    
Astra was the first to speak after a few moments, a hand going to cover his mouth as he finished chewing, “this is wonderful Boblem!” He exclaimed, Renard’s head quickly nodded in agreement, his ‘serious’ facade breaking down as he continued to eat the little slice of heaven that was on his plate.    
  
It really  _ was _ wonderful, Renard wouldn’t say they were the best that he ever had, but there was something about them. Something cozy and almost nostalgic even though he had never had them until that very moment. It was a strange feeling in his chest- and his stomach- but it wasn’t unwelcome or unpleasant.    
Made it just taste all the better.   
  
“Did you make this all by yourself? From scratch?” Elyse looked baffled and joyful at the same time. Boblems’ cheeks flushed bright pink as he was bombarded by compliments, his voice stuttering as he spoke, “th-thanks y’all. ‘M glad that y’all like it! Um- yeah I did. I used to cook back home so I got pretty good at it.” He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, avoiding looking any of the others in the eye, a barely contained smile on his face.    
“You think you got ‘pretty good at it’? Boblem, this is amazing.” Renard said, a rare soft smile playing at the corner of his lips, making Boblem blush even further.    
“How long did this take you to make?” Astra asked, “I don’t know a lot about cooking…” He added very quietly, a light colouring adding to his cheeks. Renard leaned closer to him slightly, “don’t worry, I don’t know a lot about cooking either.” He whispered with a small shrug of his shoulders. Astra gave him a soft smile which he returned quite easily.    
  
“Oh um,” Boblem began, running a hand absentmindedly through his dark curls. “Not that long, maybe an hour or two? I woke up at 6 and began working on it pretty quickly.”   
Elyse turned her head to look at him, an eyebrow raised, “you woke up at the crack of dawn? To make us breakfast?”    
Boblem nodded, “well yeah, why wouldn’t I?” He said with a small shrug. “Everyone deserves a nice meal in the morning.” He looked at Elyse as if it was obvious.    
“Boblem,” Renard began. “Not everyone usually  _ does  _ that. Especially for people that they barely know.” Boblem looked very confused by that, glancing over to Astra who also looked fairly confused. Renard and Elyse shared a brief look before he quickly changed the subject.   
“When did you get a chance to get groceries?” Renard asked, “unless the apartment  _ came  _ with them already in the fridge-”    
Elyse choked on a piece of her food, a quick bark of laughter escaping her, making Boblem, who was standing close by jump slightly. She quickly apologised to him, “sorry sorry just, that would be the dream, right? Buying a place and it already having everything you’d need? Maybe a maid or two.” She mused, shaking her head weakly.   
  
Renard was a little confused, he was confused about basically anything that came out of Elyse’s mouth and her… odd outbursts. Was what he said really that funny?    
Astra giggled softly, “we went to the shops yesterday afternoon and bought a few things, thought it would be a nice thing to do.”   
Boblem nodded, leaning on the counter as he smiled.    
“You two do a lot of things just because it's the nice thing to do don’t you?” Renard thought out loud, “I mean no offence by that, sorry.” He added quickly, his gaze quickly dropping to avoid eye contact.    
Astra shook his head, giving Renard a smile, “don’t be. But yeah, I guess we do?” He looked up at Boblem and he nodded, his brows knitting together. “Yeah, it just- feels like the right thing to do, at least that's how I would describe it.” His hand went to the back of his head as he shrugged his shoulders weakly.   
  
“No yeah, that's how I would also describe it.” Astra began, his fingers knitting together as he talked. His eyes glancing down at his hands then up at the ceiling as he spoke.    
“It’s just how I was raised, I guess. Do kind things because it's just, the good thing to do and it makes people happy.” He said with a small shrug and half-smile, looking down at his hands resting in his lap.   
Elyse nodded, lost in thought for a few moments. Renard looked down intently, not really at anything in particular. “Hmmm,” he hummed quietly, biting absentmindedly at his lip. It wasn’t like it was new to him to meet people that thought like the way that Astra and Boblem seemed to, they were just very few and far apart. Anyone with any actual heart to them usually got stomped out fairly quickly…    
  
“I guess that,” Elyse began, putting her now empty plate down on the counter next to her. “I guess that makes sense, yeah.” She nodded to herself, placing her hands on her lap, her brows furrowing together slightly in thought. Everything was silent for a few moments as everyone thought to themselves, not really knowing what to do or say until Astra spoke up. “The food is lovely Boblem,” he said, smiling up at him softly.    
“It really is,” Elyse added, shifting her legs from where she was perched on the counter, letting them dangle. “Can you make it like, every day for the rest of time?”    
Boblem let out a snort that developed into a string of contagious chuckles, even Renard was having to hold back a small chuckle or two, Astra covering his mouth as he slowly caved in on himself. Elyse was looking around confused, or at least,  _ trying  _ to. A smile was being barely contained and her shoulders were shaking as she tried to keep her laugh from getting out, her lips pressed tightly together.    
After a few moments Boblem  _ tried  _ to speak through his laughter, it took him a few times before anything remotely sounding like English to leave his mouth. “I mean, I can if that's what y’all would really want?”   
Elyse looked at him, “you don’t have to, Boblem. I was kidding- well, half kidding, but still.” Astra let out a small snort and Renard was trying his damned near hardest to not let out more than a small huff of laughter.    
  
Boblem shook his head weakly, waving a hand as if to dismiss Elyse’s half-hearted denial, “I don’t mind. I like to cook and bake, and I don’t usually have anything much better to do nowadays, so why not?” He shrugged, leaning casually against the counter as he talked. “As long as y’all would be okay with that of course.”   
He was met by a wave of nods and words of approval from everyone immediately, his cheeks gaining a light pink hue as he was yet again taken aback by all of their approval.    
“It's better than living off of ramen noodles,” Elyse said with a shrug of a shoulder. Renard gave her a very brief look that she, thankfully, didn’t seem to notice, before shaking his head weakly.   
  
“What is going on out here?” Everyone jumped slightly as Cassian strode into the room, looking as fresh as ever.    
“Mornin’ Cassian!” Boblem exclaimed.   
“Boblem made food,” Elyse began. “It’s  _ really _ good.”    
Cassian raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, nodding at Boblem in what could only be thought of as an expression of thanks, before heading over to the kitchen and began to make himself a cup of tea, saying his greetings to the group.   
Not soon after that, Sariel made her way out from her room and into the common area with the others and saying her greetings. She was met with Elyse yet again saying that Boblem had made them all breakfast and complimenting him every second about how good it was, with the added help of Astra and Renard backing her up. And soon Cassian and Sariel joined in on the praise too after they had been convinced to try it.   
  
All in all, Boblem was very flustered and promised to make food for the others until the end of time, which was met with a very enthusiastic Elyse and a vaguely confused looking Cassian.    
Renard didn’t really know what he expected the first morning of this new life of his would be like, but this definitely wasn’t what he had pictured in his head.   
He wasn’t complaining, there was something about this group of people that he had found to be his roommates that intrigued him.    
They were all certainly an interesting bunch and, even if at the time before he would realize it, but he liked the idea of sticking around and seeing what might happen with these new people he’d found himself to be ‘stuck’ with.    
  
It was still the weekend, but Monday was right around the corner and Renard was somewhat of a workaholic, even if he would never admit it. He had plans to try and get in as much studying and preparing as was possible, much to the still confused Boblem and Astra’s bewilderment, but they didn’t say anything that would deter him.    
Cassian was planning on staying in the apartment and continue working on one of his many projects. Sariel needed to do something in the city but didn’t necessarily explain  _ what  _ and no-one was really all that bothered to ask for any more clarification. Elyse said that she had taken that day off and would not have to fun out the door like a chicken that lost its head and was just gonna ‘hang out’ with a few of her old palls from her early days.    
Astra surprising had somewhere to be and Boblem didn’t really have anything in mind for what he wanted to do.   
  
The day went by uneventfully for Renard, but for some of the others, the day went much,  _ much  _ differently...    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That cliff hanger tho <<  
> Next chapters gonna have some switching POV's because I don't have a lot to work with when it comes to Vanden for a bit and I wanna focus on a few of my other babeys-  
> Sidenote: After writing this I am hungry for something sweet, it is almost 2 am while I am writing this, pray for my soul


	3. Handsome Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka the chapter where Astra has a gay panic and Aerenthias does whats an Aerenthias do :)  
> Very short chapter for my brain is trying to melt out of my head and I want a nap, but writing these boyos helped to brighten my mood a bit so there's that shfgj  
> I hope you enjoy this one! I know that I enjoyed writing a flustered Astra-  
> Feedback is always appreciated ^^  
> Enjoy~!

Astra worked many jobs, mostly little things. Helping small neighbourhood businesses, gardening, taking up shifts at local shops or the library. He would take any job that he could get, his most recent one being a small cafe just a few blocks away from the park that he frequented many times already.   
His shift  _ technically _ didn’t start until Monday, but what's the harm in just dropping in for an innocent cup of tea and maybe getting himself a little treat? And if he just so happened to end up basically working a day before he actually has to…   
It wasn’t hurting anyone, so it wasn’t considered a problem in his book!

  
He had just finished organising and putting a few things on some of the shelves in the cafe (even after being told repeatedly that he didn’t have to) when the little bell above the door rang softly as the door was opened. His eyes almost moved on instinct to look at the person that had entered and his heart skipped a beat.    
  
He had rich hazel skin and long, dark hair tied up into a loose ponytail. He was wearing a slightly scuffed up looking brown leather jacket, a half unbuttoned plaid shirt underneath, simple black jeans and dirtied brown combat boots.    
He also had a very curly moustache and a pair of piercings on his eyebrows and on his bottom lip.    
  
Astra didn’t realize that he was staring at the stranger until he turned, their eyes locking. He had the most beautiful brown eyes, they looked like they were flecked with gold as the light reflected off of them. Astra felt his cheeks begin to burn up as he went to apologize, but was cut off before he could get a single word out by his own flustered spluttering as the handsome stranger _ smirked _ and  _ winked  _ at him.    
Astra quickly averted his gaze, looking anywhere but at the man that was walking over to him and- oh Gods he was walking over to him what was he supposed to do?! Could he just walk away and avoid him?    
No no no, that would be incredibly impolite and mean of him to do! And anyway, he had already noticed him and caught him staring, he couldn’t just run away.   
He silently wished that he could melt into the wall and vanish into the void, never to return. 

  
“Hey there,” a voice purred from just in front of him, sounding like it had been dipped in rich honey. Astra was sure that he let out a little squeak at the sudden voice, jumping about what he felt was six feet into the air.   
The stranger let out a warm chuckle at his reaction as Astra stuttered to form a complete sentence, “h-hi! Sorry- sorry about staring at you, I didn’t mean to.” He fidgeted slightly on the spot.    
  
“My name’s Astra.” He shakily extended his hand out and tried for a smile, hoping that he wouldn’t notice how red Astra’s cheeks were.    
The stranger only smiled, taking Astra’s hand and giving it a firm shake, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Astra. The name’s Aerenthias Van Wymarck, but you can just call me Aerenthias.” He gave another wink and it took everything Astra had in him to not combust right then and there.    
It wasn’t even like he had said anything super flirty, like Astra even knew what being super flirty looked like, but it didn’t matter. For some reason every time Aerenthias spoke Astra felt like his insides were going to explode!   
  
“P-pleasure to meet you too,” Astra said, slowly starting to get back control over his stuttering, giving Aerenthias a warm smile in return.    
Aerenthias gave a small nod, there were a few moments of silence before he spoke up again. “So,” he began. “Do you come here often?” He smirked, his eyes seemingly shining with some sort of…. deeper meaning that Astra, thankfully, didn’t catch.   
“Oh I um, I actually work here.” He explained simple, tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear. Aerenthias’s eyebrows raised slightly, surprised. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket casually, “are you new? I frequent this place often and I think I would remember seeing someone as striking and beautiful as you.”    
  
Whelp, so much for that calm front. Astra’s cheeks immediately heated up again as his eyes grew large in shock at the compliment. He stuttered, his eyes darting around to try and avoid the shameless smile that Aerenthias was giving him.    
“I-I, uhm, th-thank you-” He managed, looking down at his shoes in embarrassment and fiddling with his fingers, he heard Aerenthias let out a soft chuckle before he tried to continue. “T-tomorrows actually my first day,” he explained. “But I thought that I'd come a day early and help around a bit.”   
Aerenthias nodded, “pretty new then.”    
“Yeah, just moved here a few weeks ago,” Astra said with a small smile, looking back up from the floor and trying his damned hardest to maintain eye contact with the other man.    
“Very new then!” Aerenthias exclaimed softly, smiling brightly, “I hope the city’s been treating you nicely. How you been enjoying it-”   
  
“Aerenthias!” There was a shout from over Aerenthias shoulder and both men turned their heads towards the call. There was a woman leaning in through the door, her dark hair pushed out of her face by a large sunhat.    
“We have to get going or else we’ll be late. Again.” She said, only then noticing that Aerenthias was with someone, her face looking slightly shocked for a split second before she gave Astra a quick nod and a small greeting which Astra returned with a small wave of his hand.   
“I’ll be out in a minute, Jocelyn,” Aerenthias said with a smile.    
“You better be,” she retorted, before ducking out of the cafe quickly. Aerenthias turned his attention back onto Astra, giving him a warm smile as he spoke, “sorry about this Astra. Duty calls and all that. Maybe we can talk later when I don’t have somewhere I desperately have to be?”   
Astra stuttered, a bit confused now. “Yeah! O-okay, but um I don't have your number-” He was cut off as Aerenthias pulled out a small card from his pocket, holding it out for Astra. He took it, even more confused now before Aerenthias explained it to him, “it’s my business card. My personal number’s on the back.” He smirked and clicked his tongue as he winked again at Astra, “call me later and we can maybe plan something, just the two of us.”   
  
And Astra was now bright pink again, holding the card in shaking hands as he failed to speak English, he was pretty sure he accidentally slipped into French for a bit.   
“Uhh, o-okay um- talk- talk to you later?” He almost pleaded, causing Aerenthias to chuckle as he began to walk away, smiling over his shoulder at the very flustered Astra, “I’ll be waiting. Talk to you soon,  _ doll~ _ ” And with that, Aerenthias left, that small bell dinging as he opened the door before it closed behind him.    
  
Astra was frozen on the spot, his face five different shades of red and pink and his heart beating hard in his chest. What had just happened?!   
He looked down at the card in his hands, his thumb gently going over the golden cursive on the front, simply saying ‘Aerenthias Van Wymarck’. The name of probably the most beautiful man that Astra had ever seen. The name of the man who had just shamelessly… flirted with him? Was that what he had done? No-one had ever  _ flirted _ with Astra before, especially that obviously and persistently. 

  
How was he supposed to continue the day normally with the thought of  _ him _ clouding his mind? He needed to get out of his head and cool down before he overheated.    
A walk in the park would help him, yeah!   
He was still staring at the card though, not being able to bring himself to look away from it. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and took a deep breath, calming his ever beating heart. He put the card into his pocket, carefully, and made his way out of the cafe, off to try and clear his mind the best that he could. But… what if he didn’t fully want to?    
What if he wanted the image of this new friend to float through his mind all day. The way that he spoke, the way that he stood, the way his eyes lit up in the light....   
Astra was going to have a long day, and a very flustered one at that, his cheeks never seeming to cool down as the thoughts of this handsome stranger ran wild in his mind.


	4. Girls, just girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aka, Elyse is a hopeless gay with no sense of self-preservation or brain cells :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo yo yo! 'bout time i updated this sjhks  
> found this in my wips and decided to finally sit down and finish it, sorry if its a little rushed or confusing in places  
> its really late while I'm writing this and I'm about to pass out  
> enjoy!

Elyse never knew how it always ended up like this, but she wasn’t gonna start complaining now.  
A few hours ago, or at least she thought it had been a few hours, the concept of time was a little muddled in her drunken state, she had met up with a few of her old pals at a local bar that they had pretty much claimed as their own and began chatting and idly drinking.  
But that didn’t last very long as soon enough, Elyse began drinking like there was no tomorrow, quickly losing all her inhibitions and sense of self-preservation.

Somehow during all the chatting and chaos, the topic had switched over to one of Elyse’s favourite games to play: Truth or Dare and it was her turn in the hot seat, as it were.  
She almost always chose dare, because in her opinion it wasn’t as fun if you didn’t end up doing something stupid, doing something stupid was basically the story of her life. 

No-one around the table was surprised by her decision, expecting as such from their daring friend.  
“Alright then, I dare you to…” It took a few moments before the ball dropped, the thought never crossing her mind to stand down from the on-coming challenge.  
Why would she anyway?  
She wasn’t scared, if she was scared about a dare she’d still have half of her hair.  
“I dare you to go over there and try and get that girls number.” She followed to where they were pointing, turning around in her seat to look at the just as rowdy group of people only a few tables away from them. That's when she saw _her_ , it wasn’t like she could miss her. She was tall and muscular with long silver hair tied back into a ponytail and braided, the sides shaved just like Elyse’s. Elyse was certain that she could crush her head like it was nothing.  
And she was okay with that.  
She turned back to her own group with a smug smirk, “really? That’s all I have to do? Okay then, you’re fucking _on._ ”  
  
And with that began one of the most fun and insane nights Elyse has, and probably ever will, have. In her talking to the woman that could crush her between her thighs- learning that her name was Boske- she had convinced her and some of her friends to join their group in their game of Truth or Dare. She was surprisingly down for chatting and drinking with random strangers. Elyse slowly began to not only want to get Boskes number to win the dare, but also because she actually enjoyed her company.

And the others noticed this, even if neither Elyse nor Boske fully noticed it themselves, and soon every dare that either of them accepted was something that would involve or impress the other. As time went on and the sun began to dip low in the sky, everything began to grow fuzzy, Elyse couldn't think straight- if she ever could in the first place- and would forget something moments after it happened.

The last thing she remembers was Boske's face, smiling down at her and saying something in her ear before her memory went blank. 

The next thing she knew she was waking up in her bed with barely any idea on what had happened the night before, her mind groggy with the small amount of alcohol still in her system.  
She groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she blinked them open only to be met by the blinding light of the morning sun. It took her a few minutes before she unwrapped herself from the cocoon she found herself in, standing up from her bed, still in the same clothes that had been wearing the day before.  
  
She ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to tame the mess that she knew it had become when she noticed something written on her wrist. It took a few moments for her eyes to focus on it, it was a string of numbers. In a second everything came flooding back to her.  
The drinking, the dare, _her._

Her cheeks heated up as a small grin spread along her lips just at the thought of the large woman, it only growing as it sunk in that- holy shit she had Boskes number.  
She tried to contain the joy that she felt in her chest but then decided, fuck it, and let the little girl inside of her take over.  
Clapping her hands together, smiling aggressively and dancing around her room for a minute straight, fist pumping the air before, suddenly, the panic set in because- _shit_ \- she had a very pretty girls number and didn’t have the slightest clue on what to say to her.  
  
“ _Fuck,_ ” she mumbled aloud to herself. She began to lightly pace around in her room, the thoughts running rampant in her head before she looked at the alarm-clock next to her bed- that was just a clock at this point after the last time she threw it across a room- and she realised that it was Monday and she had classes that day and she was running behind schedule.  
Panicking about her love life could wait!  
She cursed under her breath and began to quickly get her things, stuffing her notebooks into a bag and not even bothering to change her clothes; she was already dressed, why would she need to change?  
  
On her way out of the partially empty apartment, she downed a glass of water and some painkillers to try and stop the oncoming headache before it struck. There was a plate with some very lovely looking bread loafs on it sitting on the kitchen counter and she grabbed a handful, taking a bite out of one and almost fell to her knees from how good it tasted.  
She had only known Boblem for a short amount of time but she was already certain that his skills could rival that of any proper chef. She took a mental note to praise him later when she wasn’t risking her future.  
  
But in the back of her brain as she hurried to try and not be _too_ late, she was still thinking about what she was gonna say once she decided to actually call Boske. But that was a problem for future Elyse to try and figure out.  
  


====================================================  
  


It was hours later and Elyse finally had time to breathe, her nerves as calm as they could get as she began to wander around the campus with the free time that she had. Don’t ask her why she decided on this, she couldn’t give you a solid answer even if she tried.  
She didn’t know where she was going, that was the whole point of just wandering, walking with no destination in mind. She ended up walking into a building that she hadn’t been to before- which was to be expected, she knew nothing about the campus and had only ever been to one of the buildings.  
  
She continued to wander, peeking into empty rooms just for the sake of it, when she heard sounds coming from one of the classrooms a few doors away from where she stood.  
Elyse was intrigued.  
She walked closer and closer to the origin of the sounds, her combat boots clunking against the pristine tiles. Once she got to the door she, hesitantly, peaked inside and let her eyes scan the room. It was a fairly large room, the walls littered with hung up tools of varying sizes and danger levels. There were half a dozen rows of workbenches, many of them still messy with stains and covered in dents and scratches.  
But what really caught her eye was the woman that was standing at one of the workbenches. She was wearing a large leather apron, paired with gloves and safety goggles. She currently had something in her hand that Elyse could only describe as a mini flamethrower-and is that a phoenix tattoo on her shoulder?  
  
Oh shit that’s cool.  
  


Elyse stared at the woman for probably longer than normal, taking in as many of her features as she could, quickly wiping the corner of her mouth where she had drooled just a bit. 

She had dark skin that looked like it was made of pure charcoal, a light sheen of sweat coated her forehead and her bare, _muscular_ arms. She had fiery red hair that was shaved down at the sides, the top part longer and pulled up into a small bun.  
_God damn did she look good,_ came a voice was somewhere in Elyse’s brain. _She’s really_ really _good looking. And are you seeing those arms?_

Her brain kept on going down this spiral that boiled down to her being super, mega gay for this random woman that was standing a few feet in front of her, that still hadn’t seemed to notice her and if she has she hasn’t acknowledged the woman having a gay panic to her right.  
  
After a few more moments of Elyse being an absolute wreck in the doorway of this workshop, she decided that she probably should either walk away or try and strike up a conversation with the only other living thing around. But how to make herself _not_ look like she has been watching as this hot woman continued to tinker with something on the bench in front of her.  
Elyse was just about to open her mouth to say something (no she wasn’t) when said hot woman spoke.  
“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Elyse jumped out of her skin, her face growing warm as the person that she had been drooling over for the past however long finally turned around to face her and- oh wow her eyes look like they’re glowing in the light how even.  
  
“Oh uh, sorry I was just,” Elyse stuttered for a few moments while the other person began to take off her goggles and gloves, setting them aside on the table beside her and looking very amused. “I was just wandering around campus when I stumbled upon this room and well, you.” Elyse continued, then regretted her choice of words as soon as she said them. “That came out really weird I’m sorry, why can’t I be normal today?” She muttered to herself. In the midst of her little panic she didn’t notice that the person responsible had taken a few steps towards her, chuckling as Elyse struggled how to be a normal person. She extended her hand out towards Elyse, a small smirk on her face as she spoke.  
“My name’s Phaesta, it’s nice to meet you…?” She left the end of her sentence open, waiting patiently while trying to maintain eye contact with the silently dying Elyse.  
She quickly broke out of her downward spiral as she noticed that, shit, she had to actually engage in conversation again. She quickly took the outstretched hand, shaking it as she introduced herself, regaining the brain cells that she momentarily lost.  
Phaesta chuckled again, her eyes twinkling with something that could only be described as mischief.  
Elyse and Phaesta continued to talk for however long, time seemed to pass differently in that moment, throwing playful banter back and forth until Elyse found herself standing in front of her apartment door, the feeling of a lingering kiss on her cheek and a piece of paper with Phaestas phone number on it and only one thought going through her head on loop.  
  
_Today was the best day of her life._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> girls by girl in red (bc what else)


End file.
